Need a true showstopper for your next party? Look no further! This Strawberry Banana Split Cake is as delicious as it is gorgeous and best of all, it's so easy!
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So T is starting to really get into Mickey now. It kind of feels surprising and early because she only just starting to use words to communicate with us, and not even sentences. I think part of that is because at this point with A, she wasn't actually watching shows yet.
But that's one of the benefits of being a second child. While you may lack in the amount of photos that your parents have of the first kid, you make up for in more cookies and in our case, earlier access to TV.
It's really cute, though! A has an adorable Minnie hoodie
that she got for her birthday and whenever she wears it T gets all excited and goes up to point out Minnie and all the tiny Mickeys that are on it.
Sh also loves to watch it and even gets mad when A chooses a different show to watch! And when it comes time to do the Hot Dog Dance, A loves to stand up and take T's hands and get her to dance with her. T gets a huge smile on her face and bounces right along to the music.
What's also interesting is that if given the choice, A will also choose shows other than Mickey at this point. However, we still put on Mickey half the time and tell her it's T's urn to choose and after she objects for a moment, she generally gets super into it and wants to watch another.
While I'm not huge into screen time, it's also really cute to see them love Mickey as much as we adults do!
This is actually part of the cake I made for A's birthday! Although for that, I made two bundt cakes (one strawberry banana as per A's request and one chocolate) cut and pasted them into a 3, covered it in store-bought strawberry butter cream and finished by covering it in sprinkles. It turned out super cute and everyone loved it- sorry though, I failed at getting photos.
But I knew I wanted to get a little over-the-top with this cake because why the heck not? And I wasn't even a little bit sad about doing a few more recipe tests (nor were my family and the neighbors who got to enjoy the results!).
This is another cake mix hack #cantstopwontstop. It's crazy easy to bake up! I made a fluffy banana whipped cream to fill between the two layers and also some chopped bananas and strawberries, because sometimes you just have to be a little bit extra.
Let's have some real talk here for a second. Is anyone else intimidated by the idea of frosting a whole layer cake? I can't be the only one! So for this cake, I went with chocolate ganache. Not only is it an almost fool proof glazing option, but it is a gorgeous visual representation of the "hot fudge" you might find in a strawberry banana split. I kept this particular ganache a bit thicker to give you a little more control when trying to get that dripping effect (which is not as hard as it looks- use on offset spatula
).
Finish it with a few dollaps of that luscious banana whipped cream and some maraschino cherries on top and you've to yourself a showstopper of a cake that will not only impress your friends and family visually- it also tastes amazing! Expert tip: pipe it on
, it's super easy and look fancy AF!
Bottom line, and as they say at Nike, just do it! *this is not sponsored by Nike, the phrase just fit here. They have no idea who I even am. 🙂
Other great cake mix hacks include:
- Super Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Lemon Pistachio Cake
- Orange Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cake
- Poppy Seed Cake
Strawberry Banana Split Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- Cooking spray
- 1 Duncan Hines Signature Strawberry Supreme Cake Mix not sponsored, I just love them!
- 2 pkg. of Instant Banana Pudding reserve 2 Tbsp. for the Banana Whipped Cream
- 5 extra large eggs I used large because that is what I had on hand
- ¾ cup of canola oil
- 1 cup of warm water
For the Banana Whipped Cream
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 2 Tbsp. Instant Banana Pudding reserved from the ones used in the cake
- 2 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
For the Chocolate Ganache
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Andplusalso:
- 1 banana halved legnth-wise and sliced
- 4-5 Strawberries halved and then sliced
- Maraschino cherries for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line the bottom of two 9 inch round cake pans with a sheet of parchment (I do this by tracing the bottom of the cake pan onto the parchment paper and then cutting it down to size).
- Spray the pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, pudding mixes, oil and water.
- Beat until just combined.
- Split the batter between the two pans and bake for around 30 minutes (begin checking it around 25 minutes, just to be safe).
- Once the cakes have cooled, remove the first layer from the pan, onto your cake platter.
- Next, spread half of the banana whipped cream (recipe below) onto the cake in an even layer (I find it easiest to pipe it around the edge of the first layer and then fill it in).
- Sprinkle the sliced bananas and strawberries atop the banana whipped cream and use your hands (or a clean spatula) to gently press them into the whipped filling a bit.
- Place the second layer onto your first layer.
- Carefully pour the chocolate ganache onto the center of the cake and carefully use an off-set spatula to push "drips" of ganache over the sides of the cake-take your time to get the look you want.
- Pipe dollops of banana whipped cream around the edges of the cake and one in the middle and place maraschino cherries onto each dollop.
- Enjoy!
Whipped Cream Topping:
- Place the pint of heavy cream into the mixer with a whisk attachment and begin mixing it on high.
- As it starts to thicken, add the reserves banana pudding mix and sugar.
- Whip until it forms nice fluffy peaks (try not to over-whip it) and pipe it onto the cake as per the above directions.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Place the chocolate chips into a heat-safe bowl and set aside.
- Heat the heavy cream in a small pot over medium heat, whisking often to prevent scalding.
- After around 5-10 minutes, just before the heavy cream starts simmering, remove it from the heat and pour it into the bowl of chocolate chips.
- Let it sit for 5 minutes and then carefully whisk it until it combines and turns into a smooth chocolate ganache.
Notes
-If you find that the chocolate chips aren't melting nicely into the cream, pop the bowl into the microwave and zap it for 20 seconds- it should combine easily after that.
-If the ganache is too thin, let it sit for 5-10 minutes because as it sits, it thickens. If it gets too thick it won't pour but you'll still be able to spread it on top.
-If you're unable to find strawberry cake mix, you can substitute strawberry puree for water.
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